ANN ARBOR, MI - DTE Energy has unveiled plans for a long-awaited redevelopment of a vacant industrial site along the Huron River in Ann Arbor, a project several years in the making.

"We're ready to begin to move on it," DTE CEO Gerry Anderson said of the mixed-use project known as Broadway Park, which includes extensive public open space, a new riverfront trail, event pavilion, a riverfront restaurant, hotel, retail spaces and condos. "I think it's going to be really great for the community."

The Detroit-based utility company announced on Monday, May 7, it has entered into an agreement with the Roxbury Group, a Detroit-based real estate development company, for an 11-acre development on the site of a former Michigan Consolidated Gas Co. coal gasification plant off Broadway Street.

The plans are still being finalized, but Roxbury hopes to get the city's approval for the project by the end of the year, with construction to commence immediately thereafter.

DTE and Roxbury say they've been collaborating on the design with a shared focus on the creation of a world-class public space as the centerpiece of the project.

The tentative plans show more than 80 percent of the site - about nine acres - would be developed into open space and green infrastructure, with about 1,200 feet of restored river shoreline.

The development also is expected to include an 8,000-square-foot year-round event pavilion, up to 100 residential condominiums, a boutique hotel and up to 20,000 square feet of retail space, including space for what's described as an attractive, high-quality restaurant facing the river, with outdoor patio seating overlooking the river.

According to DTE, the project could represent "up to $75 million or more" of new investment at the site.

DTE, which is offering up its property for the development, is not spending any utility customer money developing the project. Roxbury and other parties will be financing the development.

Anderson, a longtime Ann Arbor resident, said he's excited about what the project will mean for the community.

It aims to unlock substantial public access to a section of Ann Arbor's southern riverfront just north of downtown.

Anderson said DTE knows it owns a unique property and wants to see it put to its highest and best use for the community.

He said New York-based Project for Public Spaces has been retained to assist in developing the programming and design of what DTE and Roxbury hope will be an iconic public space.

PPS will be conducting a series of outreach sessions to gather community input before plans are finalized. Anderson said the project team already has been in talks with city leaders and various community organizations, including the Huron River Watershed Council.

He said one goal is to make it possible for people kayaking and canoeing along the river to stop, hop out of their boats, and get a bite to eat at the riverfront restaurant or visit one of the shops.

"We are excited that, in addition to the residential and commercial development, Broadway Park will provide residents with an activated public space connecting to the surrounding parks and trails along the Huron River," City Administrator Howard Lazarus said in a statement.

"We believe the Broadway Park public space will be a significant benefit to Ann Arbor, as it will be located facing the Huron River, across from the Argo Cascade white water feature."

Anderson said DTE's development agreement with Roxbury is the result of DTE's commitment to developing the site in a way that highlights the natural beauty of the riverfront while preserving much of the land for the public's enjoyment.

They have assembled a team of local and national professionals to assist in the design of the project, including SmithGroupJJR of Ann Arbor, Detroit-based Hamilton Anderson Associates Architects, and SME Consultants of Plymouth.

"We are thrilled to be working with DTE Energy to unlock the incredible potential of this unique site," David Di Rita, principal of The Roxbury Group, said in a statement. "Given our group's strong ties to Ann Arbor, we understand how impactful this project will be to the community, and we are pleased and honored to have assembled such an impressive team to bring Broadway Park to fruition."

Roxbury was founded in 2005 by University of Michigan graduates Stacy Fox and David Di Rita.

In 2014, they re-opened the historic David Whitney Building in Detroit's Grand Circus Park following a $94 million redevelopment into an Aloft hotel and 105 apartments with first-floor restaurants and retail space. They also completed the Outdoor Adventure Center on Detroit's riverfront in partnership with the state.

Roxbury's other projects include The Griswold, a $24 million, 80-unit apartment building rising five stories atop a 10-story parking and retail building in Detroit's Capitol Park, and the Plaza, a 74-unit apartment conversion of an office building in Detroit's midtown district, and a redevelopment of Detroit's long-dormant Metropolitan Building, which will house an Element Hotel by Westin with first-floor retail.

DTE acquired the old MichCon property along Ann Arbor's riverfront through a merger in 2001. DTE closed and later demolished the remaining buildings in 2009, and in 2012 it undertook a substantial environmental remediation project to clean up the shoreline.

Some pollution still remains on a portion of the site and is planned to be remediated as part of the redevelopment.

In 2013, DTE sought proposals from developers who may be interested in breathing new life into the site, with the requirement that a substantial amount of open space is to be included in any plans.

Anderson said DTE and Roxbury waited until now to unveil their plans because it was unclear before whether the city might need some of the MichCon site for facilities related to a new Amtrak station.

Anderson said DTE previously developed a concept for the MichCon site that was integrated with a new train station. He said it was a pretty cool plan, but it had to be scrapped when Fuller Park became the preferred site for a new train station.

After that, he said, the project team went back to the drawing board and came up with the current plan.

So far, DTE has released only one drawing showing a conceptual vision for the property. Looking south across the river, it shows green space and pathways along the riverfront, a taller hotel building off to the left by Broadway with a shorter restaurant building next to it, some surface parking spaces for cars, and a series of retail and condo buildings. The potential hotel brand, restauranteur and other tenants are not being identified at this time.

Both the inside and outside seating areas at the restaurant are expected to offer good views of the riverfront.

Anderson said cars would come into the site using the exiting drive off Broadway Street. He said it would have the feel of a residential street, with retail on one side and condo buildings on the other.

He said there would be some surface parking spaces as well as a shared parking garage.

DTE spokeswoman Coleen Creagh Rosso said detailed information about the amount of parking and a site layout plan are not being released at this time.

"We will be taking community stakeholder input through the PPS process on various issues that will affect things like layout and parking, and so we have nothing to share at this stage," she said.

Anderson said Roxbury is the developer and DTE's only role is to be able to approve what's done. He said DTE could have just sold the property to the highest bidder, but the company wanted control over how the property is used. He said DTE will have a modest retained interest after the development happens.

He said part of DTE's mission is to be a force for growth and prosperity in the communities it serves and one of the ways it's attempting to do that is by repurposing properties it owns.

He points to the creation of Beacon Park next to DTE's headquarters in Detroit as another example of DTE creating vitality through creative reuse of a blighted property. DTE tore down an old industrial building and transformed a gravel lot surrounded by barbed wire into a green space and event venue expected to have 1 million visitors this year.

"We've done that and we're going to do more of these," Anderson said of those types of projects.

Anderson said it hasn't been decided yet whether the public open space proposed as part of the Broadway Park development would be privately owned or dedicated as city parkland.